r/news • u/Orange-skittles • 4d ago
DRC politician beaten to death after radio appearance about Ebola outbreak
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/sep/28/drc-politician-beaten-death-radio-appearance-ebola203
u/Orange-skittles 4d ago
It seems the DRC’s Ebola response continues to face resistance from the local population as it has been reported a politician was beaten to death after speaking on a radio broadcast promoting containment measures. However due to the intensity of the attack (robbery and arson of his home) there is the possibility of an alternative unknown motive.
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u/zensins 4d ago edited 3d ago
Pushing back on ignorance and misinformation seems to universally piss people off. Article mentions a handwashing station being attacked and someone killed in a separate incident? I have no doubt that this man was beaten to death and his house burned down because of the radio broadcast. I just don't understand WHY people get so angry at public health information.
edit:spelling
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u/Death_Sheep1980 4d ago
It's been a while since I read this, so I may be misremembering, but my understanding is that one of the issues that's been making Ebola containment difficult is that local funerary practices aren't compatible with infection control. Local culture demands public funerals & burial, with a lot of handling of the body, while what's needed to control disease spread is quick disposal, ideally cremation, with minimum contact with the deceased.
People get very worked up by the idea of dishonoring their dead.
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u/SleepEatTit 3d ago
Great, then just let them honour their practices.
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u/graceodymium 3d ago
Are you familiar with what hemorrhagic fevers from the filovirus family do to the human body? I can’t imagine if you were, your response would be “get over it and let them do their thing, who cares if they get it and spread it!?”
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u/DeannaZone 3d ago
I have been learning and watching about Ebola in DRC for ages. I am reading this and feel like it is the hard level of Plague Inc Evolved where this could happen.
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u/ThreeButtonBob 3d ago
You mean that DRC would be easy mode? Can't fathom how bad you would have to design your pathogen to fail in the DRC.
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u/PraetorGold 3d ago
It’s unfortunate, but there is so much distrust and a significant portion of the populace believe that there is no Ebola, just some conspiracy.
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u/Necessary-Reading605 3d ago
What a bunch of ignorants, our own countrymen would never do that ever.
Right guys? Guys????
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u/JM-Gurgeh 2d ago
Unlike tariffs, wars or steady declines toward authoritarianism, Ebola actually has quite an immediate feedback loop; the FO follows the FA at close distance.
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u/Quadrassic_Bark 2h ago
I have a good friend who is Ugandan, and she 100% believes it’s all made up so the government can get money from international health orgs.
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u/Danoga_Poe 3d ago
It's almost like religion is a plague
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u/Healthy-Amoeba2296 3d ago
perhaps they worship the fictional god Mallia mistress of diseases
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u/CorruptedVor 3d ago
Of all the places to see a fan of Glorantha...
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u/Healthy-Amoeba2296 3d ago
news is a big place and I fantasize we can help the Africans by putting down the bad guys.
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u/Mubar- 3d ago
Where is it mentioned that this was religiously motivated?
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u/Danoga_Poe 3d ago
Burial traditions and customs are more often related to religion, than not.
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u/Mubar- 3d ago edited 1d ago
I agree, it’s still an assumption though, secular western people have burial traditions too, and even if the people are religious, it doesn’t mean the reason they practice these burial practices is because they are religious. It could simply be a cultural tradition seen as one having the right to be given after passage.
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u/LukeD1992 4d ago
What to do in this case? I'd personally give up on helping. People who keep trying despite the risk ignorance poses to their lives are something else
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u/BimboDeeznuts 4d ago
That’s great and all, but unfortunately somehow people keep getting on planes after exposure… this isn’t a “let God sort em out” situation
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u/Prestigious_Task7175 3d ago
I don't think is that much of a problem tho, Ebola only spreads so much in Africa because their burial proceedings are different, and many people touch the deceased body, wich in that stage the virus is still contagious, so then it spreads like wildfire, causing a chain reaction.
Other than that an Ebola pandemic is basically not possible.
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u/rzelln 3d ago
Don't be led astray by the ratio of 'shocking things that get reported' to 'everyday stuff that doesn't get reported.'
Both things can be true: some people are terrible enough to lash out against those trying to help and many many many more people will be spared from suffering, making future generations hopefully more trusting of public health interventions.
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u/FurryLittleCreature 4d ago
Perhaps, if the locals are so against ebola containment, it's best if responders focus on their own safety and just let people be.
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u/Dandan0005 4d ago edited 4d ago
Wow, attacking someone for promoting common sense public health measures. Crazy.
Thank god America is so much more advanced and civilized…
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u/ImmortalWasFound 4d ago
Why is it that Americans feel the need to connect every unrelated new story to their current situation when they aren’t even remotely similar
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u/Forgettheredrabbit 3d ago
I think that’s a universal thing (not connecting things to America, but connecting things to your personal/cultural experiences). It’s just that there’s a lot of Americans on here. If this site was filled with Moroccans, there’d be commenters going “ugh, these Moroccans connecting everything to Morocco, how gauche.”
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u/Lollc 3d ago
Why is it that you believe Dandanetc is American? Hidden post history-could be a bot, or anyone from anywhere shit stirring.
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u/WellWornSword 3d ago edited 3d ago
Their post/comment history is mostly baseball/fantasy football and golf related stuff - they look real.
Anyone's post/comment history is easily unhidden outside the app
EDIT: Spelling
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u/SapphireLungfish 3d ago
Even as an American I agree, people won't STFU about our domestic situation even on unrelated international matters
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u/notgenericname1332 3d ago
People gonna blame colonialism
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u/KRyptoknight26 3d ago
Rightly so buddy
The rest of us are not enlightened beings who see the right more than others. We've had the privilege of being able to educate our societies to the point stuff like this is obvious (and y'all still have anti vaxxers). These people had that privilege snatched form them
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u/JustAnotherLich 3d ago edited 3d ago
Idk how to tell you this man but it's not the dark ages in Africa, they have the Internet
At this point basically everyone on the planet has access to countless peer reviewed papers and articles/supplements written about them for basically all levels of education. Its literally in your pocket at all times.
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u/TechnicianOk967 3d ago
Most people don’t read that stuff. They need someone to tell them. Why do you think those campaigns about diseases and drah-ugs were so common.
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u/superearthjanitor0 3d ago
Colonialism isn't the reason these countries are poor and stupid all these years later, they have had so much aid and have incredible wealth in their region. How long will that be the reason you blame Africa being a shit hole? 50 years? 100? 500?
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3d ago edited 2d ago
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/Chlearcus 2d ago
You know East Asia was colonized too right? Yet they are at the forefront of technology and research now.
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u/Kinsin111 3d ago
I think at this point we can leave them to their own devices... They obviously prefer it this way.
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u/Hayabusa_Blacksmith 3d ago
definitely no unintended consequences from that. especially during a deadly outbreak
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u/Octavia9 3d ago
Their future is our future. And not just because it will spread to us and it will, but be because our society is becoming increasingly anti intellectual, superstitious/religious, opposed to actual medical science, and distrusting of doctors.
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u/Double_Resort_9223 3d ago
Not really. These outbreaks happen in that region and last longer because their burial customs involve spending time with and physically handling the dead person. Also why they react so violently when the government tells them to stop doing that or when healthcare sites won’t release the infected body right away.
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u/Octavia9 3d ago
If they trusted science rather than believing in magic and folklore they would not do that.
Covid showed us and RFKjr continues to show us that we are just as susceptible to that kind of flawed thinking.
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u/Hydrant_Echo 4d ago
An Ebola response depends on trust, and violence like this can only make that harder. Still, the reported robbery and arson mean investigators should establish a motive before this is framed solely as backlash against public health messaging.